Trend to Try: Drop-In Meditation Studios

Drop-in meditation studios are popping up around the country, and our collective yen for Zen has also fueled an uptick in 100- and 200-hour meditation teacher trainings.

The benefits of sitting in stillness are being heard loud and clear, and now a growing number of us are plopping down on meditation pillows. As a result, boutique, drop-in meditation studios are popping up around the country, and our collective yen for Zen has also fueled an uptick in 100- and 200-hour meditation teacher trainings.

“A growing number of yoga teachers are hungry to address their own—and their students’—desire for the deeper aspects of practice,” says Joseph Loizzo, MD, PhD, founder and director of the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science, which recently launched a 100-hour Meditation Teacher Training program that takes place at Pure Yoga in New York City (and qualifies for Yoga Alliance credit, if students already have their 200-hour certification). There are many more options for learning and teaching meditation now than in the past, when apprenticeships and silent retreats were the norm. From Deepak Chopra’s online Primordial Sound Meditation training to the Mindfulness Center’s 160-hour immersion program, meditation is becoming even more available to the stressed-out masses.